Sour Heart

"Jenny Zhang’s short story collection lit up my text messages with friends for weeks. We couldn’t stop dissecting Zhang’s characters, many of them Chinese immigrants or kids of Chinese immigrants, like us. Getting to know these characters and their varied flaws was like seeing parts of our lives reflected back at us – a rare experience. Zhang’s incisive, no-holds-barred style exposes the world of young Chinese-Americans in New York City as they attempt to make sense of how they and their families fit into it. Place is a crucial part of her work, as is the relationship of her young adults to their parents and siblings. Zhang deftly constructs a world in which many different types of characters co-exist and connect; I couldn’t help but feel as though the breadth of the Chinese-American experience had been rightfully acknowledged. Zhang is a writer to watch."